Author: Karen Goveia

At some high schools around the state, including two in the North Valley, students took the AzMERIT test for the final time at the end of last school year. The state now allows high schools the option to replace it with other standardized tests.

Enrollment at schools in NoPho, the I-17 corridor from Norterra to New River, rose just 1 percent overall this year compared to last, but several saw significant change, as expected trends in population shifts played out and most charter schools and the lone private school expanded.

The developer of a 71-acre proposed residential development east of I-17 between Circle Mountain and Jenny Lin roads has withdrawn his request with the City of Phoenix to rezone the property from commercial to residential for a 286 single-family home neighborhood.

By a resounding and somewhat surprising 6-0 vote, the Rio Vista Planning Committee, an advisory committee to the City of Phoenix, recommended denial of a rezoning request to allow construction of 286 houses between Anthem and New River. But the vote is not a final decision.

Anthem Community Council and several New River residents strongly oppose a proposed development of 283 homes on 71 acres between the two communities, and are hoping to sway a decision by the Rio Vista Planning Committee at its Sept. 11 meeting. Legally, however, neither group can stop the development.

What started out as a citizen group of Democrats who began meeting informally following the 2016 election to discuss results and issues, became the catalyst for the organization of an official Democratic legislative district in Northern Maricopa County, an area that has lacked any such organized or registered group for this party. The Republicans formalized their equivalent in 2012.

A public meeting will seek community input on a proposed rezoning of 69 acres of vacant land east of Interstate 17 and north of Circle Mountain Road, for the construction of nearly 300 single-family homes.